Facebook post from June 11: I have a sick Shadybug on my hands. He has just been laying around all day and won't eat. Not even his favorite McDonald's. He keeps saying his stomach hurts but he had a normal bowel movement and farted. The doctor gave him some liquid Zantac and it was mint flavored and he didn't want to take it. We got a little in his mouth and he threw up everywhere. He had a bath and is sleeping on me on the couch. I don't know if he would have thrown up regardless of the medicine. If he still says it hurts when he wakes up we may try the medicine again mixed in juice or something. I hate seeing him sick. It makes me feel so helpless.
The next morning, it became apparent that he was not feeling better at all and now he was lethargic and becoming very vocal about the pain. We called his doctor's office to find out what they wanted us to do and they said to take him to the emergency room to at least receive IV fluids. We weren't alarmed but were definitely starting to become more concerned. Could he have appendicitis or something along those lines? Will he need surgery? It was a little scary, but playing the "what if" game was not helpful. It was a very long stay in the ER as they hooked him up to IV fluids and monitored his temperature and blood pressure. They took blood to run several tests and we waited and waited and waited. Luckily, Shade didn't seem to be in that much pain, but he was weak and tired. He watched TV and just sort of lay there. The ER doctor eventually informed us that his pancreatic enzyme levels were very high and that she suspected pancreatitis. She said it was rare in children and since Shade had not had any abdominal trauma like a bicycle accident and he had not traveled to any foreign countries or anything of that nature, that they were not sure why he had it. He had an ultrasound and a CT scan which revealed an fluid around his spleen and nothing more. Our local hospital was ill equipped to handle a case of pancreatitis in a child and they wanted to transport him to Kosair Children's Hospital about 45 minutes away. The problem was that there had been a wreck involving a day care van that evening during rush hour and fourteen children ranging in age from five months to nine years old were being treated at Kosair. They could not accept the transfer at the time they were called but said to call back later after things had calmed down. So, we waited some more. Hours passed and finally a little before midnight, Shade and I got in an ambulance and rode to Louisville. I was relieved that they didn't have to use the siren. Shade would have freaked out from the noise. Sometime before we left he developed a fever. We arrived at the Kosair ER after midnight and they were still pretty busy. We were put in a room that they didn't normally use for patients, but more for storage. Dan arrived very shortly after the ambulance. There was only one chair so Dan let me have it and he sat on the floor. They disconnected him from the IV fluids, took his vitals and left. We waited some more. 
The rest of that night is a little blurry because we were so tired from all of the worry and the waiting and not having anything to eat or drink. All I remember is finally being admitted at about 5:00am. We got settled in the room and tried to rest, but hospital days start early and we had to answer a ton of questions from many different nurses and doctors. We got so tired of repeating ourselves. Shift change was at 7:30 and then the doctors start making their rounds. We saw a team of residents and a GI specialist. They were trying to determine the cause of the now officially diagnosed Pancreatitis. Dan got us some breakfast from the McDonald's downstairs and we ate separately in the bathroom so that Shade wouldn't have to watch us eat even though he doesn't like breakfast foods. At some point that morning, my Mom and Dad and Dan's Mom and Dad came to sit with Shade while we went home and packed some essentials, showered, and took a nap. I was sooo exhausted but I couldn't sleep soundly. My baby was at the hospital and this was serious. His pain was well controlled and he was resting comfortably, but I was still worried. At this point I still didn't even really know what pancreatitis was. Over the course of Shade's hospital stay, he had several ultrasounds and x-rays. He had a full bowel and was given a stool softener which worked VERY well. He also developed pneumonia at some point from laying down too much. We didn't know that was a risk or we would have encouraged him to get up more. We thought we were doing right by letting him rest. The treatment over the course of the hospital stay was that Shade was allowed nothing by mouth for the first few days to allow the pancreas to rest. Then after a while he was allowed to sip clear fluids. Then he was finally allowed to eat a little and finally on the 18th, we were allowed to go home. Shade was very happy to hear that. At some point during the hospital stay, his pediatrician called me himself to apologize for missing his diagnosis. He admitted that the Zantac was prescribed as a placebo and said that he missed the signs of pancreatitis because it is rare in children. I was about to become all too aware of how little some doctors know about pancreatitis.
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